On October 10, after many weeks of speculation, the Commission issued an order extending the filing deadline of the 2013 Q3 Electric Quarterly Reports (EQRs) filings from October 31 to “a date to be determined.”  This extension follows a series of similar delays and significant technical issues associated with the revised EQR filing requirements put in place by Order Nos. 768, 768-A, and 770.

As part of the preparation for the new filing requirements, FERC had made available to the public an EQR Sandbox Electronic Test Site (Sandbox) that was meant to be a testing platform to help users acclimate to and prepare for the new filing requirements and system.  The Sandbox was made available on July 12 and was meant to be available until September 1.  Following the testing period, the Sandbox would be taken offline to prepare it to go live well in advance of the original October 31 filing deadline.  Commission Staff encouraged filers to utilize the Sandbox “as often as possible” and to contact Staff with questions and concerns during the planned six week testing period.  From the beginning of the testing period, there were significant and wide-ranging problems encountered with the Sandbox.  After vocal feedback from industry, the Commission extended the Sandbox availability from September 1 to September 15.  It was hoped that this extension would allow ample time to address and resolve the problems and allow filers additional time to test a functioning Sandbox.  Unfortunately, the issues were not resolved, and on September 13 the Commission extended the availability of the Sandbox “until further notice.”

Since the indefinite extension of the Sandbox availability, filers have continued to experience difficulties.  As a result of these ongoing issues, the Commission has implemented a similar indefinite extension of the filing deadline.